im looking to do somewthing with my time and i want my own car.....i am looking at an old e28 535is, e30 325i, or maybe a really older 320i....my question i sHow fast are your 320's? do they handle nice? i expect they would, they are very light, the oppostie of the e28...but i liek any old bmw so i dont really care.....what methods do guys have of upping the power? i have seen videos of old 320i turbos in germnay....scary fast

Umm e21's are slow. HAHAHAHAHAHA

Says the man who raced a civic and lost :(

i have a 320i for sale. a few posts below
pretty fast for a 4 banger. car does great when you get the speed up

They are slow stock but pack a punch when turbochargered. E21's can be fast if you do a motor swap, but are still fast with the M10. I personal want to build the crap out of the M10 cause everyone is doing motor swaps and I like the idea of still having the M10. The new cars WILL be faster cause the are tech. advanced. It really all depends on how much money you are willing to spend and what you want to build it for. Goodl uck!

E28 535is' can be very fun cars. Take it from me, i just sold my lightly modded one and it was pretty damn quick. I already miss it and its only been 3 weeks...

However, if you wanted to compare an e21 to an e28, for the same amount of money you can make a faster e21 than e28. A 535is will nickle and dime you to death where i have found that an e21 won't do that as much.

Cheers,
Jonas

yeah, the only reason i would buy an e21 would be because of low initial price for the car, and iits easy to work on myself. the wrx and 328i arent mine, so i need a project car, and i underfstand now that a turbo wouldnt be in the works for another year at least.....for now im gonna keep researching and more importnantly getting some money so that i can spend it all on some kind of bmw in the future...maybe even a 2002

Umm e21's are slow. HAHAHAHAHAHA

Says the man who raced a civic and lost :(

LOL, you lost to a civic

LOL, you lost to a civic

Sadly........ :help :(

wut kind of civic? the base model is only 106, that 3hp less than a stock 320i, and even the the fastes stock civic si is about 127hp(99-02), i think

i spank civics all day

Here's my take on it(bear in mind that I'm nuts). If you want a fun car with an M10, buy a 2002. They are much faster than a 320i, and a lot more fun to drive. They also don't look as bad when saddled with the diving board bumpers. If you want a fast, fun E21, find a 323i. Tough to argue with a 6 in an E21.

As for the 535, the beauty in them is, they're plenty fast, bone stock! Don't tell anyone, but I hit the rev limiter in 3rd at 170km/h, with 4th being just north of 200km/h. Owner's manual claims 243km/h as a top speed. To top that off, it's got GREAT brakes, beautiful chassis, lots of room, and it's agility belies it's mass.

All of them are great cars, but having owned a few of each, I would take a 535i over a 320i any day of the week.

Al

My fleet: 76 2002
http://www.seamsperfect.ca/images/Als_02/alpostsuspension.jpg http://www.seamsperfect.ca/pics/02%20pics/done%206.JPG

81 RHD 323i
http://www.seamsperfect.ca/pics/E21/Left%20rear%20in%20sun.JPG

85 535i
http://www.seamsperfect.ca/pics/535/DSCF0001.JPG

that 02 interior ownes all

DAYUM that interior is CLEAN !!!

Very Nice

Bimmerod
:cool

Thanx guys. I sure hope it's clean, as I only finished it a few months ago, and I don't drive the car enarly enough. Here's some more pics.

Al
http://www.seamsperfect.ca/images/Als_02/alpedalsdone.jpg http://www.seamsperfect.ca/images/Als_seats/albackseatdone.jpg http://www.seamsperfect.ca/images/Als_seats/alfrontseatsdone.jpg

I just finished a big run of leather shift boots, and e brake botos for the 02 guys. Any interest from the E21 crowd? The boots will fit either car. I'd need at least 10 orders at $95 per pair to make it happen.

http://www.seamsperfect.ca/images/Als_02/albrakeboot.jpg http://www.seamsperfect.ca/images/Als_02/alshiftboot.jpg

I just finished a big run of leather shift boots, and e brake botos for the 02 guys. Any interest from the E21 crowd? The boots will fit either car. I'd need at least 10 orders at $95 per pair to make it happen.

To rich for my blood

All of them are great cars, but having owned a few of each, I would take a 535i over a 320i any day of the week.

I second this motion. :devillook

I have owned 3 e21's (still own 2 of them) and an e28 M5. I sure loved that M5 but parts cost a fortune.

My '82 320is engine is mildly modified and runs stronger than it has a right to... 272 duration cam, 2.0L crank/pistons, E21 head casting (mild porting), EFI conversion and a custom header/exhaust. Crank trigger programable ignition is in the works. I had a late model MR2 want to tangle monday morning-- No chance-he was embarassed in front of his girl friend by an old man in an old BMW!!

Check my website to see what I have done to it. www.e21motorsports.com/kendanielson

More cam (290 druation range), more compression (10.5-1), more displacement (92x84=2334cc), bigger throttle body (60-65mm) and new header (custom) and I would bet I could get nearly 175hp at the crank.

The great thing about e21's is it's so easy to make them handle very well. $170 for a 19mm rear sway bar from e21parts.net, $200 for springs (less if you get used or shop around), $300 for good shocks/struts, $200 for some urethane bushings, $400 for 15x7 wheels, $500 for decent tires. For less than $2000 in parts (less if you scrounge and use ebay) you can have a car that will handle with the best small cars on the market today. Hell, Ricers spend that much on tires/wheels alone....

Engine swaps are fine but the m10 has tons of potential too.

ken

Kdanielson... LOVE the seats in the e21! :buttrock

im looking to do somewthing with my time and i want my own car.....i am looking at an old e28 535is, e30 325i, or maybe a really older 320i....my question i sHow fast are your 320's? do they handle nice? i expect they would, they are very light, the oppostie of the e28...but i liek any old bmw so i dont really care.....what methods do guys have of upping the power? i have seen videos of old 320i turbos in germnay....scary fast


Well, if you want numbers, mine will do 0-60 in under 5 seconds, pulls 1.2 g's on a skid pad, and has a top speed of 170 mph, and will stop from 60 in under 100 feet. :buttrock

Originally Posted by EFreak
Umm e21's are slow. HAHAHAHAHAHA

Says the man who raced a civic and lost

Um, I raced a turbocharged civic with nos and won! :D :buttrock

thanks guys, some good advice there. to me, handling is equal to speed, but im leaning toward the ultra coolness of the 535....my friend has a 2002 that handles so nice with most of his mods done to suspension, plus its light so its an amazingly fun car...your 2002's interior is way to clean! thanks guys ill keep ya posted

:crying Hey euro96 I have just recently bought my first e21 but ive owned a e28 528e and my brother had a e28 535i which i was gonna buy off him which was finished off in an accident :crying and now has a e34 535i. I dont have much experience with the e21 but through the driving I have done i is definetly pretty fun driving but my brothers e34 could take my stock e21 anyday of the week while towing a bus in reverse. But i mainly bought it to have fun in the corners anyways.

The e28 is actually my favourite BMW ever produced. So i am a little biased. I loved my 528 and even more i loved my brothers e28 535. I am actually thinking of picking up another if i can fund it. I really love these cars and have nothing bad to say about them except parts seem to be harder to find and more expensive definetly than the e21.

But your decision should depend on how much money you want to spend on the e21. From guys on the forum and other info of the internet e21 can be pretty insane fast but if you want more power stock and plan on spending no money on it definetly go with a nice e28 535i. I would. Good luck with your decision. ;)